Food container with drawing utensil

ABSTRACT

A container comprises a receptacle having a base portion, a lateral containment surface, and at least one drawing utensil for food. The drawing utensil has an elongated handgrip element and at least one movable working portion connected to one end of the handgrip element. The handgrip element faces a respective portion of the lateral containment surface. The base portion further comprises a substantially pocket-shaped housing for at least a partial insertion therein of the movable working portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to European patent application EP06024194.0 filed on Nov. 22, 2006 and published on May 23, 2007, whichis incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The field of the present disclosure relates to food containers and inparticular it relates to a food container with a drawing utensil. Saidcontainer is particularly, but not exclusively, to be used in thepackaging of ice-creams, dairy products such as yoghurts, desserts etc.

2. Related Art

The food containers used in the above sectors are usually comprised ofpots, of various shapes and sizes, sealed at the top with a lid.

In many cases, the food contained inside the pots is consumed soon afterpurchase and, for this reason, these containers are sold accompanied bya utensil (generally a spoon) usually realized in plastic and intendedfor use by the user to draw the food from the pot. Also the pot isusually realized in plastic.

Nowadays, the utensil is generally inserted between the lid (or in somecases between the lateral side of the pot) and a welded film covering.

For this reason, often the pot and the utensil are realized usingdifferent moulds and, during the packaging process, are subsequentlyjoined together as described above.

Food containers in which the drawing utensil is lightly attached to theside of the lid facing the inside of the container have also beenproposed.

This result is obtained with the technique of overprinting which in thisspecific case consists of injecting the plastic material constitutingthe lid around and over the preformed utensil. The separation of theutensil from the lid is achieved by applying a light manual pressure onthe top of the same lid.

The main drawback of the devices described above is a certain complexityin the production phase and a substantial investment, determined by thefact that at least two moulds must be prepared one for the pot and onefor the utensil.

Moreover, with reference to the containers with the utensil attached tothe lateral side of the pot, it is observed how difficult the wrappingoperation of the containers is, due to the radial encumbrance of the endsection of the drawing utensil; please note that “wrapping” means theusual operation for personalizing the various pots and consists inwrapping a layer of polymeric material around the lateral side of thepot. Furthermore, for the same reason, in containers on the market todayit appears rather problematic to provide for the possibility ofinserting the utensil inside a protective packet before attaching it tothe pot.

Last but not least, the drawing utensil, when attached to the container,may be exposed to dirt and/or germs, or the user may be forced to touchthe whole utensil with hands before use. This may cause hygienicconcerns.

Moreover, the utensil cannot be attached again to the container afteruse: this can be a problem in case that the user has not eaten the wholecontent of the container and he/she would successively resume theeating. In fact the container and the utensil are two different bodieswhich cannot put together again, neither for disposal purpose.

SUMMARY

A general aspect of the present disclosure is that of eliminating, or atleast drastically reducing, the reported drawbacks in those foodcontainers provided with an utensil currently on the market.

Within this aspect, one further aspect of the disclosure is that ofproviding a food container able to offer a particularly limitedproduction cost, in such a way that its use also proves advantageousfrom an economic point of view.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is that of providing a foodcontainer which allows, thanks to its particular shape, to simply andeconomically carry out the covering and/or wrapping operation.

A further aspect is that of devising a food container which is easy tostack and complies with the strictest health regulations. In particular,the container makes the user able to get the utensil without touchingthe whole utensil with hands.

Last but not least, a further aspect is that of providing a utensil thatcan easily attached to the container also after use.

These aspects of the present disclosure and other aspects that shallemerge hereinafter will be apparent from the drawings and descriptionherein. It is to be noted that any one embodiment of the disclosure maymeet one or more of the above-listed aspects; none embodiment needs tomeet every object of the disclosure.

The present disclosure is generally directed to a food container,comprising a receptacle having a base portion, a lateral containmentsurface, and at least one drawing utensil for food, said drawing utensilhaving an elongated handgrip element and at least one movable workingportion connected to one end of said handgrip element, the arrangementbeing such that said handgrip element faces a respective portion of saidlateral containment surface and said base portion further comprises asubstantially pocket-shaped housing for at least a partial insertiontherein of said movable working portion.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention shall be bettershown from the description of some preferred embodiments for a foodcontainer according to the disclosure, with reference to the attacheddrawings. Said description is by no means exclusive and said preferredembodiment is a non-limiting example, because other embodiments arepossible, all falling within the scope of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food container with a connecteddrawing utensil;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that represented in FIG. 1,wherein the drawing utensil is in the phase of detachment from thecontainer;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to that represented in FIGS. 1 and2, wherein the drawing utensil is detached from the container;

FIG. 4, is a sectional view along a diametrical plane of the foodcontainer connected to the drawing utensil;

FIG. 5 is a enlarged scale sectional view of the drawing utensil;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an open food container with the drawingutensil inserted inside;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view along a diametrical plane of the foodcontainer connected to the drawing utensil according to a secondembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a third embodiment of the foodcontainer wherein the utensil is detached from the receptacle;

FIG. 9 is an elevated lateral and partially sectional view of theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, with the drawing utensil attached tothe containment receptacle;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a drawing utensil according to analternative embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a transversal sectional view of the drawing utensil of FIG.10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a drawing utensil according to anotheralternative embodiment;

FIG. 13 is another view of the drawing utensil of FIG. 12.;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a drawing utensil according to afurther alternative embodiment; and

FIG. 15 is another view of the drawing utensil of FIG. 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following embodiments, single features of specific embodimentsmay be interchanged with other different features present in otherembodiments.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a first embdiment of a container for thecontainment of food, indicated comprehensively with the reference number1, is here described. The food container 1 comprises a receptacle 2 forcontaining food and a drawing utensil 3 (represented as a spoon in FIGS.1 to 13) to extract the food contained in the receptacle 2.

In the present embodiment, the food container 1 is of the type in whichthe drawing utensil 3 is stably attached to the receptacle 2 in thepackaged food container 1; said drawing utensil 3 is detachable from thereceptacle 2 by the user when he/she wishes to draw the food containedin the receptacle 2.

The receptacle 2 has a base portion 2 b, shown in FIG. 4, and a lateralcontainment surface 2 a joined together by means of an interconnectingborder 2 c. In particular, according to a preferred embodiment, the baseportion 2 b further comprises a base surface 2 d.

With reference now to FIG. 5, the drawing utensil 3 comprises a handgripelement 4, such as a handle, which is developed along a principaldirection of development 100.

According to the present disclosure, with reference again to FIGS. 1 to4, the handgrip element 4 comprises at least one portion which is facinga respective portion of the lateral containment surface 2 a.

According to a preferred embodiment, the containment surface 2 a furthercomprises a groove 2 e wherein the above-mentioned portion of thehandgrip element 4 can be housed. In the present embodiment, the groove2 e develops along a direction which is substantially parallel to theprincipal direction of development 100 of the handgrip element 4.

Such features are remarkably advantageous in the wrapping steps of thecontainer around the containment surface, because the handgrip element 4is disposed substantially at the same level of the lateral surface 2 awhen the drawing utensil 3 is connected to the receptacle 2.

A second groove 2 f may also be present in a diametrically opposedposition to the first groove 2 e. Said second groove 2 f allows aneasier stacking of the containers, because a first container could bestacked onto a second one in a such way that the handgrip element 4 ofthe utensil 3 of the first container is also housed in the groove 2 f ofthe second container.

With reference now to FIGS. 4 and 5, the handgrip element 4 isconnected, advantageously at one of its ends 4 a, to a working portion 6that, if the drawing utensil 3 is a spoon, comprises an concave ovalplate; if the drawing utensil 3 is a fork, the working portion 6comprises a plurality of teeth or tines.

In particular, the working portion 6 is movable with respect to the end4 a of the handgrip element 4.

Furthermore, when the drawing utensil 3 is connected to the receptacle 2(as illustrated in the sectional view of FIG. 4) the working portion 6is at least partially inserted inside a housing 7 which is defined onthe food container 1.

In particular, the housing 7 is substantially pocket-shaped and ispositioned at the base portion 2 b of the containment receptacle 2.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the base portion 2 d, which defines thelower surface of the housing 7, comprises curved protrusions 2 g thatmaintain the working portion 6 inside the housing 7 in a stableposition.

Advantageously, as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the drawingutensil 3 is connected to the containment receptacle 2 by means of atleast one connecting segment 8 which can be broken by the user.

In particular, the connecting segment 8 joins the top rim 2 h of thecontainment receptacle 2 to the end 4 b of the handgrip element 4 whichis opposite to the end 4 a connected to the working portion 6. Theconnecting segment 8 can be broken by the user.

The food container 1 can be obtained by means of a single plasticinjection molding: it can be noted how the connecting segment 8 allowsthe use of a single molding for the molding of both the receptacle 2 andthe drawing utensil 3.

The working portion 6 is mounted so as to be movable with respect to thehandgrip element 4 around an oscillation axis 101 which is substantiallyperpendicular to the principal direction of development 100 of thehandgrip element 4. In practice, the working portion 6 can move around asubstantially transversal axis with respect to the longitudinaldirection of development of the handgrip element 4.

According to a preferred embodiment, when the drawing utensil 3 isattached to the containment receptacle 2, the working portion 6 lies ona rest plane which is inclined with respect to the rest plane of thehandgrip element 4.

In the configuration described above, the working portion 6 isadvantageously disposed substantially perpendicular to the handgripelement 4.

In order to ensure that the working portion 6 can move around itsoscillation axis 101 with respect to the handgrip element 4, it ispossible to provide that the connection between the working portion 6and the end 4 a of the handgrip element 4 is realized by means of aflexible connecting segment. Said flexible connecting elements can alsobe made of the same plastic material of which the working portion 6 andthe handgrip element 3 are made.

It is appropriate that the drawing utensil 3 be provided with means forholding the working portion 6 in a blocked position with respect to thehandgrip element 4 when the drawing utensil 3 is utilized. That is, theworking portion 6 can be held in a condition in which such workingportion 6 lies on a plane that forms an angle lower than 30 degrees withthe rest plane of the handgrip element 4 (as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and6). In another embodiment, the working portion 6 can lie on a planewhich is substantially parallel to the rest plane of the handgripelement 4.

Said means for holding the blocked position can comprise a locking tooth9 on the handgrip element 4 and a counter shaped seat 10 on the workingportion 6 or vice versa.

However, the flexible connecting segment can simply be plasticallydeformable in such a way as to make it possible to hold a conditionwherein such working portion 6 lies on a plane forming an angle lowerthan 30 degrees (or substantially parallel) with the rest plane of thehandgrip element 4, said condition being held merely thanks to the yieldof the flexible segment itself.

Obviously, according to the same inventive concept, it is possible toenvisage that, as illustrated in the two different embodimentsillustrated respectively in FIG. 7 and in FIGS. 8 and 9, the drawingutensil 3 is removably connected to the containment receptacle 2.

For example, with reference to both the alternative embodiments, it ispossible to envisage reversible means of reciprocal removable connectionbetween the handgrip element 4 of the drawing utensil 3 and the lateralcontainment surface 2 a of the receptacle 2.

However, nothing prevents said means of removable connection from beingconnected to other zones of the drawing utensil 3 and/or of thecontainment receptacle 2, as for instance the working-portion 6 and thehousing 7.

With reference to the first alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 7, thecontainment receptacle 2 comprises a seat 7 a apt to house the end 4 bof the handgrip element 4; said seat 7 a cooperates with the housing 7in order to maintain the drawing utensil 3 connected to the receptacle2.

With reference to the second alternative embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and9, said means of removable connection can comprise at least onefastening tooth 11 that radially projects from the lateral containmentsurface 2 a of the contaminant receptacle 2; said fastening tooth 11 canbe inserted with interference inside a blocking seat 12 constituted, forexample, by a slot defined on a middle section of the handgrip element4.

Moreover, it is also possible to associate the drawing utensil 3 to aprotective covering and subsequently attaching the covered drawingutensil 3 to the containment receptacle 2 before packaging.

In this case it is possible to envisage; for example, that the means ofreciprocal removable connection comprises a layer or “dot” of glue,specifically for food use, inserted between the drawing utensil 3(wrapped in the protective covering, for example) and the containmentreceptacle 2.

According to a further embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the handgripelement 4 could be hollow, thus defining an oblong cavity 31 andallowing the use of the handgrip element 4 as a straw.

A further embodiment of the drawing utensil 3 is shown in FIGS. 12 and13. The handgrip element 4 can comprise at least one line of facilitatedrupture 41, that allows an easy separation of at least a part of thehandgrip element 4 itself. In this way at least one spiky portion is gotfrom said handgrip. For instance a spike 42 on one end of the handgripelement 4 is got and this can be used to easily pick olive or fruitpieces or chips from the receptacle 2. The spiky portions that areseparated from the handgrip element 4 can be used as toothpick 43.

Again a further embodiment of the drawing utensil 3 is shown in FIGS. 14and 15. The working portion 6, which can rotate around axis 101, isadapted to cooperate with the handgrip element 4 in order to work astweezers. Said tweezers allow to pick food in small pieces contained inthe receptacle 2, as for instance candies, Chinese food, chips or otherfood or items.

The working portion 6 can comprise a first part 61 which is connected tothe handgrip element 4, and a second part 62 which can slide withrespect to the first part 61. The second part 62 can be at leastpartially housed inside the first part 61, or vice versa.

When the drawing utensil 3 is connected to the receptacle 2, it is in aretracted configuration, i.e. the second part 62 is housed inside thefirst part 61 (or vice versa). When the tweezers are required, thedrawing utensil 3 is detached from the receptacle 2 and the second part62 is pulled out of the first part 61, so as to make the overall lengthof the working portion 6 to be approximately the same of the length ofthe handgrip element 4. The handgrip element 4 and the working portion 6are the two arms of the tweezers.

The manners and methods of use of a food container 1 according to thepresent disclosure are made clear by the description above.

Irrespective of the fact that the food container 1 is realized as asingle body or as two separate bodies (receptacle 2 and drawing utensil3) joined together, it is possible to cover the lateral surface 2 a ofthe container 1 using a transparent or printed film, for instance with awrapping layer.

In any case, such film can also work as means of removable connection.

In order to be able to detach the drawing utensil 3 from the containmentreceptacle 2, it is evidently necessary to remove said film; thisremoval could be facilitated by providing a weakened line.

It is evident that a container 1 according to the present disclosure cancomprise more than one of said drawing utensils 3: for instance, itcould comprise a spoon utensil and a fork utensil.

A drawing utensil 3 can also comprise more than one working portion 6:for instance it could comprise a spoon working portion and a forkworking portions, which are connected either to the same end 4 a or toopposite ends of the handgrip element 4.

All the elements of the invention, which are indicated above asadvantageous, appropriate or such, could also be absent or substitutedby subcombinations or other combination of equivalent elements, as longas one of the above-mentioned aspects is achieved.

The invention here disclosed is susceptible to numerous modificationsand variants, all falling under the concept of the invention, as definedby the attached claims.

For example, in addition to those means described above, the drawingutensil 3 can be kept connected to the receptacle 2 also by reciprocalfixing zones, respectively, in the drawing utensil 3 and on thereceptacle 2: for example, the groove 2 e, defined on the lateralsurface 2 a of the receptacle 2, can couple with respectivecounter-shaped segments on the handgrip element 4.

It has been established how in practice each of the embodiments of theinvention has achieved at least some (or all) of the prefixed aspectsand objectives.

In particular, it has been established how both the containmentreceptacle 2 and the drawing utensil 3 can be realized simultaneouslyusing a single mould.

Furthermore, thanks to the peculiarity determined by the possibility ofswinging the working portion 6 with respect to the handgrip element 4,it has been established that space has been saved and the container 1 ismore hygienic.

In fact the working portion 6, when it is housed inside the housing 7,is protected against dirt and germs; said handgrip element 4 can berotated and blocked with respect to the working portion 6 even while thelatter is still inserted in said pocket-shaped housing 7. Therefore saiddrawing utensil 3 can be made ready for use even avoiding the need oftouching said working portion 6 with hands.

Moreover, the drawing utensil 3 can be connected again to the receptacle2 after use and in particular the working portion 6 may be insertedagain in the housing 7, so allowing the user to successively completethe eating of the food or facilitating a proper disposal of the drawingutensil 3 together with the receptacle 2.

In practice, any type of material and any size could be employedaccording to needs.

Furthermore, all the described details and technical features can besubstituted by other technically equivalent elements.

1. A container, comprising a receptacle having a base portion, a lateralcontainment surface, and at least one drawing utensil for food, saiddrawing utensil having an elongated handgrip element and at least onemovable working portion connected to one end of said handgrip element,wherein said handgrip element faces a respective portion of said lateralcontainment surface and said base portion further comprises asubstantially pocket-shaped housing for at least a partial insertiontherein of said movable working portion.
 2. The container according toclaim 1, wherein said substantially pocket-shaped housing comprisescurved protrusions for maintaining said movable working portion in astable position within said housing.
 3. The container according to claim1, wherein said lateral containment surface comprises an elongatedgroove shaped for housing of said handgrip element.
 4. The containeraccording to claim 1, wherein said at least one drawing utensil isconnected to said receptacle by way of at least one connecting segmentthat can be broken by a user.
 5. The container according to claim 1,wherein said container is made of a single plastic injection molding. 6.The container according to claim 1, wherein said drawing utensil isremovably connected to said receptacle by way of reciprocal removableconnection.
 7. The container according to claim 6, wherein saidreciprocal removable connection comprises a seat obtained in saidreceptacle for housing of a respective end of said handgrip element. 8.The container according to claim 6, wherein said reciprocal removableconnection acts between said handgrip element and said lateralcontainment surface of said receptacle.
 9. The container according toclaim 8, wherein said reciprocal removable connection comprises at leastone fastening tooth projecting from said containment surface and ablocking seat defined on a middle section of said handgrip element, theremovable connection being obtained when said projecting tooth isremovably inserted with interference inside said blocking seat.
 10. Thecontainer according to claim 10, wherein said drawing utensil, whenconnected to said receptacle, has said working portion lying inclinedwith respect to said handgrip element.
 11. The container according toclaim 10, wherein said drawing utensil, when connected to saidreceptacle, has said working portion lying perpendicular with respect tosaid handgrip element.
 12. The container according to claim 1, whereinsaid drawing utensil comprises a flexible connecting segment betweensaid working portion and said handgrip element.
 13. The containeraccording to claim 1, wherein said drawing utensil comprises blockingmeans for holding said working portion and said handgrip element in ablocked position.
 14. The container according to claim 13, wherein saidblocking means comprises a locking tooth obtained on said handgripelement and a shaped seat obtained on said working portion.
 15. Thecontainer according to claim 1, further comprising a groove for stackingof the container.
 16. The container according to claim 1, wherein saidhandgrip element is hollow, thus allowing use of the handgrip element asa straw.
 17. The container according to claim 1, wherein said handgripelement comprises at least one line of facilitated rupture to get atleast one spiky portion from said handgrip after said rupture.
 18. Thecontainer according to claim 1, wherein said working portion of saiddrawing utensil is adapted to cooperate with said handgrip element inorder to work as tweezers.